Metalworking World 2/2011

Transcription

cars:
PLASTIC FANTASTIC
2/11
a business and technology magazine from sandvik coromant
usa:
land of the
giants
Nazca
mystery
malaysia:
uk:
lift-off for Aero contractor
business
takes off
virtually
perfect
Dave Rolley,
project engineer,
Paul Fabrications.
editorial
kenneth v sundh President Sandvik Coromant
Do like the Indians
The Nazca desert of southern Peru hides
one of the greatest mysteries of mankind.
What look like narrow channels in the dry
sand when you’re on the ground turn out to
be giant animal pictures when viewed from
the air. No one knows how and why these
lines were drawn, and little is known about
the people who made them.
Why would I spend an editorial in a
company magazine musing on ancient
mysteries?
Well, as our new R&D manager, Ingrid
Reineck, explains in the interview next to the
Nazca Lines story on page 23, it’s all about
thinking outside the existing framework.
“ It’s all about thinking
outside the existing
framework.”
There is probably an outside-the-box thought
process behind the Nazca Lines, and it is this
way of thinking that drives your company,
ours and in fact the whole industry forward.
Sandvik Coromant invests more than twice
the industry average in research and development every year. This is something I am proud
of, because I can see the results every day in
the solutions we create in partnership with
some of the best manufacturers there are
within the world’s most demanding industries.
Composites are just one example. Already
used to a great extent within the aerospace and
power generation industries, these lightweight
materials are now entering the private car
industry, which places even higher demands
2 metalworking world
on assembly-line efficiency. Read more on
page 7.
R&D is also at the heart of virtual machining,
where now a great deal of the job can be done
long before work begins on the factory floor.
Sandvik Coromant is always interested in
developing methods to improve efficiency and
help protect our environment. Our feature on
page 14 looks at how the UK’s Paul Fabrications
takes such issues on board.
During the coming year, you will find many
of our new innovations and solutions at trade
shows around the world. As always, trade
shows are a perfect way to meet and discuss
challenges and what we can do together to
improve the business. As an example, we
are already planning for EMO Hannover, the
world’s biggest trade show within the industry,
which takes place in September. I hope to meet
you there!
In the meantime, I wish you pleasant
reading!
Kenneth V Sundh
President Sandvik Coromant
Metalworking World
is a business and technology magazine
from AB Sandvik Coromant,
811 81 Sandviken, Sweden.
Phone: +46 (26) 26 60 00.
Metalworking World is published three
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worldwide. Published by Spoon
Publishing in Stockholm, Sweden.
ISSN 1652-5825.
Editor-in-chief and responsible under
Swedish publishing law: Yvonne
Strandberg. Account executive:
Christina Hoffmann. Editorial manager:
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Richt. Sub editors: Valerie Mindel, Geoff
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editions: Eva Bengtson. Prepress:
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content
metalworking world #2 2011
7
Composites lighten
the load for future
cars.
30
5
Business is big for
electric mining shovel
maker Bucyrus
CoroMill 170 puts
precision in focus
Metalworking News.... 4
CSR in the market......... 6
A light drive................... 7 Malaysia flies high......24
Virtual machining
Big is beautiful............30
in the real world......... 14
Outlook........................36
What’s behind
the Nazca Lines?........20 Total solution..............38
20
What do the Nazca Lines mean?
Technology
CVD coating
wears it well
A steady
hand
Tool library
sets standard
The heat is on
for ceramics
The demand for better performance
and wear resistance has led to the
development of high-quality CVD
coatings.
How new cutting tools will
improve the precision and
reliability of the hole-making
process using portable
machines.
A common model for
describing cutting tool
information will increase
effectiveness and
improve productivity.
How ceramics are proving
to be a popular and effective
alternative to cemented
carbides in HRSA machining.
12
19
28
35
metalworking world 3
News
What’s in it for me? Five questions
about the new cutting tool standard
1
What does the ISO13399
mean for a metalcutting
company? “It provides quick
and secure access to cutting tool
information directly from the tool
supplier.”
2
Do I have to change my way
of working? “Not really. The
standard provides cutting tool
information in a neutral format that is
independent of any particular system or
company nomenclature. Once you have
an ISO13399 compliant system, you will
no longer have to manually interpret data
from paper catalogues and key it into your
system.”
3
What are the general
benefits? “Increasingly,
advanced functionality in modern
manufacturing systems relies on access to
relevant information about the manufacturing resources. With the standard, the
data-gathering process will be more
efficient and of better quality. That will
contribute to a better utilization of your
manufacturing resources. So ultimately,
the standard saves you time and provides
an extra guarantee of quality.”
4
Are there any aspects that
will have a certain impact
on the industry? “Having the
information in a neutral standardized
format opens up new opportunities in the
cooperation between the tool supplier
and the manufacturer – in the human-tohuman, human-to-machine and machineto-machine interaction.”
5
So what do I do now? “We
realize that our customers don’t
want to create this ISO13399
import interface themselves. Our
approach is to integrate the Tool Library
Services [TLS] [see page 28] with common
platforms our customers are already
using, such as CAM software. Thus you
don’t need to do anything right now. Wait
for TLS, and the tool data import function
will come to you!” n
Martin Brunnander is senior manager
for technical marketing at Sandvik
Coromant. Read more about the new
ISO standard on page 28.
The art of machining
Modern methods
on historic premises
Green light
for new event
Milling. Under the
banner “Great art can be
experienced in many ways
and in many places”
Sandvik Coromant
Denmark joined forces
with the curators of
DieselHouse, a museum in
Copenhagen built around
a giant HC Ørsted diesel
engine. For 30 years, the
engine was the largest of
its kind in the world.
The combined customer
event and seminar proved
machining. “Green
Light Machining” is another
manufacturer-focused event
aimed at improving machine
utilization and efficiency.
The first event will be held
in Sandviken, Sweden, in
mid-August. The concept will
then be rolled out globally
at selected machine tool
partners’ premises. For more
information, check out
www.sandvik.coromant.com
or contact your local Sandvik
Coromant representative. n
to be very popular, with the
engine providing a perfect
backdrop.
This was one of a series
of events that Sandvik
Coromant has presented
around the world under
the heading “The Modern
Art of Milling.”
The events have
featured lectures on
milling and machining
as well as practical
demonstrations of useful
client solutions. n
The HC Ørsted diesel
engine was the largest
of its kind in the world
for 30 years.
UK has wind in its sails
MEL STOUTSENBERGER
energy. The world’s largest offshore wind facility,
Thanet wind farm, has been officially opened off the east
coast of England. Swedish electricity supplier Vattenfall
says the 100-turbine wind farm, situated some 12 kilometres off the coast of Kent, is expected to generate
enough electricity to power 200,000 homes. The
115-metre-high turbines are spread over more than 35
square kilometres. The wind farm cost some 914 million
euros and took two years to complete.
There are more than 250 wind farms and nearly 3,000
turbines in the United Kingdom. Still, renewable sources
of energy account for less than 3 percent of all electricity
produced. Vattenfall also owns the 30-turbine Kentish
Flats wind farm, off Herne Bay, opened five years ago,
one of the first such projects in the UK. n
Green light for solar plant
solar power. Plans for the world’s
largest solar power plant, the Blythe Solar
Power Project, have been given the go-ahead
by the California Energy Commission. Once
in operation, the project, situated in the
Mojave desert, will have a 1,000 megawatt
capacity, which is equal to the turbine output
of a nuclear power plant or a big modern
coal-fired plant. Final approvals came in
December, and initial work on the project has
You can learn about everything from windmills to
careers on the Sandvik Coromant YouTube channel.
Go to www.youtube.com/sandvikcoromant.
“You must have the ability to
create a network extending
into the markets as well as into
the production organization.”
ingrid reineck, research and development
manager at sandvik coromant.
>>> Read more on page 23.
begun. The site is being developed by Solar
Millennium LLC, and the first two plants are
slated to be connected to the grid in 2013
and 2014.
Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger applauded the commission’s
decision to approve the construction of the
Blythe project, saying, “Projects like this are
the future of the California economy.” n
New cutter for
gear milling
cutting. Sandvik Coromant
has introduced a new CoroMill
170 precision cutter. In combination with insert grades
GC1030 and GC4240, the
CoroMill 170 can minimize gear
machining times and the need
for subsequent operations.
Designed for one of the
toughest existing metalcutting applications, the
CoroMill 170 is most
effective on applications
demanding precision and
reliability in roughing
operations, such as slewing
rings for windmills, cranes
and other heavy equipment,
as well as external and
internal gears. Two insert
geometries are offered
for medium and heavy
machining. The programme
is an ideal solution for
windmill gear production,
including internal and
external gears. n
Royal seal of approval
visit. In England, Her
Majesty the Queen and her
husband the Duke of Edinburgh
paid a visit to Sheffield late last
year to launch building work on
a new nuclear research facility.
As sponsors of the Nuclear
Advanced Manufacturing
Research Centre, representatives from Sandvik Coromant
were invited to the ceremony
on 18 November. n
Chris Jackson
Tore Johannesen
New wind farm will
boost UK capacity
youR tube
A major breakthrough
for solar power in the
California desert.
quick time
text: geoff mortimore photo: Justin Guariglia
new thinker.
Chen Shu-chu energetically
pursues her own corporate
social responsibility by
donating huge sums from
her vegetable stall in the
Taitung Central Market in
Taiwan to charity.
full of beans
Corporate Social Responsibility in the marketplace
If you are looking for the world’s most generous givers,
Taitung County in Taiwan might not be the place you would
start. But then Chen Shu-chu, 60, is no ordinary woman. As
a child, she dropped out of school to help feed her sevenmember family after her mother died, working in a vegetable
stall at the Taitung Central Market. She continues selling
vegetables at the market to this day.
Corporate social responsibility is playing an increasing
role in many large organizations, but Shu-chu proves that
the size of your business is not the issue. Despite her
modest means and income, she has managed to donate
nearly 10 million Taiwan dollars (USD 320,000) to various
causes, including TWD 32,000 for a children’s fund, TWD
144,000 to help build a library at a school she attended and
another TWD 32,000 to the local orphanage, where she also
financially supports three children. Consequently, she
earned a place in the “Heroes” category of Time’s 100 for
2010 and also one of Forbes Asia’s 48 “Heroes of Philanthropy.” She now plans to establish a fund to help the poor with
education, food and health care. n
text: Tomas lundin
CARS ON
THE SCALES
Carbon fibre-based composite materials
are expected to play a key role in the search
for lighter cars, despite huge challenges
in production line manufacturing.
7
ICHIRO, LiseGagne
metalworking world Ferdinand Dudenhöffer,
professor, University
Duisburg-Essen
Per-Ivar Sellergren, development engineer at
the Volvo Cars Materials Center, is optimistic.
“If everything goes according to plan, we will
have a prototype in the form of a car boot by
the end of 2012,” he says. Cost is an issue, but
Sellergren says that even though it is still
considerably more expensive than steel and
aluminium, the future still lies in composites
for electric and hybrid cars.
According to Volvo’s calculations, the cost
of a bonnet made of the new battery material
could be equal to that of an original bonnet
plus a lithium-ion battery. “As manufacturers,
we could add on an extra amount for the
carbon fibre bonnet, because we are, in effect,
getting a battery for nothing,” he says.
According to Ulf Carlund, Volvo Cars’ composite expert, until now production methods
have been too slow, and earlier investments in
traditional auto plants have needed to be ex-
24
million hybrid or
electric cars will be
sold annually by 2025.
Assembly line
production poses
a major challenge
for future cars.
35 %
of new cars will run
on fuel only by the
year 2025, according
to estimates.
ICHIRO
Per-Ivar Sellergren,
development engineer,
Volvo Cars
ploited. Partly, it is also due to the fact that
traditional steel automakers have found it
difficult to think and work with composites.
However, there is a strong will to change, and
the public will see more and more polymer
materials on the inside and outside of new
cars, according to Volvo experts.
Audi, by virtue of the aluminium car A2, is
a forerunner in lightweight car manufacturing.
In the company’s “lightweight” centre in
Neckarsulm, in southern Germany, Audi
engineers build on the carbon fibre techniques
already used by subsidiary Lamborghini as
well as on composite technology/expertise
developed by parent company Volkswagen’s
luxury Bugatti model.
In the Audi R8 Spyder sports car, which
costs more than 120,000 euros and is only
made at a rate of about 15–20 per day, Audi
uses carbon fibre-strengthened polymer in
both the sides and the top of the roof box.
One prerequisite that would make it more
cost-effective in cheaper mass-produced cars
is that a number of aluminium components
Bill Pugliano
Ulrich Zillmann
Tighter environmental demands and
nnn the ever-growing car use in developing cities
have forced the automobile industry to think
in new ways. In focus are lightweight new
body shapes and battery lifetimes, in the form
of either hybrid or purely electric cars.
By 2014 at the latest, almost all car
manufacturers will offer hybrid cars, and that
is just the beginning. Ferdinand Dudenhöffer,
professor and head of the Center for Automotive Research at Duisburg-Essen University
in Germany, talks of a change in technology.
“By 2025 the share of new cars running
on fuel alone will have dropped to 35 percent
globally,” he says.
Another forecast states that within 10 years,
some 24 million hybrid or electric cars will be
sold annually. This figure, says Dudenhöffer,
is conservative. All automakers will be wrestling with the same problem, though – weight.
When a battery is installed, the weight of a
purely electric car increases by some 250
kilograms, while for a plug-in hybrid it’s
around 200 kilograms.
Volvo Cars is working on a possible solution.
Together with researchers at Imperial College
London’s Department of Aeronautics,
engineers in Gothenburg, Sweden, have come
up with a composite material made from a
mixture of carbon fibre and polymer that is
capable of charging and storing energy. The
idea is that Volvo cars of the future will have a
body that, in effect, acts as an electrochemical
battery. But how far away is such a solution?
could be replaced by a single carbon fibre
component. “Instead of five or six different
tools, maybe you would only need a single
tool,” says Karl Durst, a development
engineer at Audi’s Leichtbauzentrum.
Here, among other projects, fibres are
packed into a composite material to increase
the weight advantage in comparison with
aluminium, from around 17–18 percent to
about 25 percent. The project hinges on a
material that has the same drag and press
weight burden capability as aluminium.
Despite this, there are still several major and
minor problems to solve, says Durst, not least
the corrosion in the joints between composites
and other materials. There is also a noise
factor. For every kilogram that the car
becomes lighter, the noise level increases,
Audi mediaservices
carbon fibre
Composites that are used in the
aerospace and car industries are
mostly made of epoxy or vinylester
that are reinforced with carbon fibre.
The advantages of these composites
are their low weight and mechanical
properties such as high tautness.
Carbon fibres split easily, but they
can also be formed to absorb high
amounts of energy. This is necessary
in racing cars, which are in danger of
head-on collisions at high speeds.
Less-advanced fibre-reinforced
plastics have long been used in
the car industry. In the former
East Germany, more than 3 million
Trabants were made from duroplastic, consisting of Soviet Union
cotton and phenolic resin from
chemical factories. n
The Audi R8 Spyder sports car
uses carbon fibre-strengthened
polymer in both the sides and
the top of the roof box.
requiring insulation, which in turn adds more
weight. Another challenge will be the
material’s familiarity among car mechanics
handling it. “It should be possible to fix the car
and replace composite car parts in even the
smallest Audi workshop anywhere in the
world,” says Durst.
needs to be
improved. Lars Herbeck, who is manager of
German machine manufacturer Voith’s
subsidiary Voith Composites, foresees a large
need in several areas. One is with the
optimized flow processes for materials, and
another is a paced production of more than
100,000 components a year, as well as a much
faster pace in the cycle. Compared with
aluminium components, which can be made
the manufacturing process
every second, it can take from 20 minutes to
an hour for larger composite parts. This works
in the aerospace industry but not in the auto
industry’s large-scale assembly line production, which turns out more than 55 million cars
a year globally.
Oliver Geiger, who is a researcher in the
composite materials department at research
institute Fraunhofer-Institut für Chemische
Technologie in Pfinztal, Germany, is looking
at ways to get large companies to work
together in various sectors. Audi’s Durst talks
of the need for a leap forward in the technology, rather than relying on a slower evolutionary development.
Daimler too, which has used carbon fibre in
its racing car, the SLR McLaren, since 2004,
is also concentrating heavily on developing
the technology. In April 2010, it started a
cooperation with Japanese chemicals
company Toray, the world’s leading manufacturer of carbon fibre. The aim is that within
three years the company will be developing
components made of carbon fibre for models
with an average manufacturing volume of
20,000 to 40,000 cars a year.
Meanwhile archrival BMW is being
considerably braver. Together with German
partner SGL Carbon, BMW is investing 100
million US dollars in a composite factory in
Moses Lake, Washington, in the United States.
According to BMW Head of Finance Friedrich
Eichiner, the factory will make “large volumes
at competitive prices” for the first time. The
aim is to reduce the price of materials to less
than half of the current price of carbon fibre,
Randy Faris
technical insight
Plenty of uncertainty
Composites in the aerospace industry are already a growth market.
Sandvik Coromant has many tool solutions on offer in this area, including
PCD (polycrystalline diamond) and carbide drills. In the auto industry,
however, there is still plenty of uncertainty over what kind of need there
will actually be for composites.
Carbon fibre technology is certainly already established in Formula
One racing cars and expensive luxury and sports cars. But these are cars
that are made more or less manually in very small numbers.
“When it comes to mass production we are still at the research and
development stage,” says Francis Richt, who works with composite
development at Sandvik Coromant. “But we are counting on this new
material soon being used to reduce the weight of
electric and hybrid cars.” Richt adds that the
appliances in the aerospace industry are more
complex than in vehicles, with a greater necessity
for quality and with simultaneous processing of
composites and other materials such as titanium.
“We know that cars have a more homogenous
structure than planes, which, for example,
reduces the need to drill thousands of holes and
Francis Richt,
mill large areas,” says Richt. “On the other hand,
Sandvik Coromant
there is a need to be prepared to open up other
holes and cavities. Nevertheless, we see other demands in automotive
compared to the very advanced aerospace industry.”
There are tools existing today that can be used in the car industry. For
example some Sandvik Coromant CoroDrill drillshave a diamond surface,
which improves the hole quality and performance of the users’ machines. n
Composites are already being
used in Formula One racing cars.
The challenge is to bring the
technique into the mass
production of private cars.
Source: Volvo Cars
How to turn a car body into a battery
Volvo Cars’ solution for lighter
electric cars is simple: Instead of
installing heavy batteries, the
company hopes to be able to turn
the whole car body into a battery.
That can save up to 250 kilograms of
weight, and every kilogram is crucial
when it comes to making electric
cars work for real. In the centre of
this new technique is the use of new
composite materials. This is how the
solution works:
The latest nanomaterials made of extremely thin
and strong carbon fibre replace the car’s steel
body panels and can be used in the car’s roof,
doors, bonnet and floor. These panels also double
up as the car’s battery.
Expected range is 130
kilometres when the doors,
roof and bonnet are replaced.
–15 %
Plenty of uncertainty130 km
The car’s weight can be reduced
by 15 percent. There is potential
for cutting weight still further.
Electrons (-)
Carbon fibre
Ions (+)
The material can be recharged by:
1) Harnessing the energy generated when the car brakes
2) Plugging into the mains electricity grid.
which is used today in racing cars at a cost of
USD 22 to 55 a kilogram.
will be made on two lines,
with an annual capacity of some 1,500 tonnes,
and will be used to make the new BMW
electric car, the Megacity Vehicle, a four-seat
hatchback with a 35 kWh lithium battery,
capable of travelling more than 100 kilometres
on a charge. A sports car variation, with a
small additional diesel engine and two electric
engines should be capable of reaching a top
speed of more than 200 kilometres an hour.
Megacity is expected to roll off the
production line in 2013–2014 in Leipzig,
where BMW has invested more than EUR 400
The carbon fibre
Fibreglass
The body panels are
discharged as the
car’s electric motor
is used.
Carbon fibre
million. According to BMW, it will be the
world’s first production-line car with an entire
passenger cell made of light carbon-fibre
composite on an aluminium chassis. The first
sketches that BMW has released reveal a car
that looks straight out of a science fiction
movie, with a battery like a flat mattress under
the whole coupe, over-dimensioned wheels
and a dynamic, almost aggressive image.
It remains to be seen what the effect will
be on the factory floor of an industry already
under pressure. “It’s a gamble,” says a lightweight specialist at one of BMW’s competitors.
Manager Norbert Reithofer is also fully
aware of the risks. At a auto conference in
Nuremberg in October 2010 he said:
“It’s possible we won’t make any money
during the first production cycle with this
technology, but then it will be subsidized
by traditional techniques.” n
ttle
John Ra
technology
text: Elaine McClarence
Challenge: To improve cutting tool
performance by developing better wearresistant coatings.
Solution: New, high-quality coatings
that result in much less wear.
CVD lays down
the gauntlet
is the
key technology for creating high-quality
coatings that enhance cutting tool performance. The evolution of tool coatings and
processes has dramatically increased tool
productivity, and CVD has been one of the
major contributors to its growth.
The Sandvik Coromant history in CVD
goes back to 1969, when its first coated
insert grade was introduced. GC125 had a
single titanium carbide coating a few
microns thick and resulted in increased
cutting speeds and tool life.
CVD is an extremely versatile technology
that is used to create thin or thick coatings of
everything from hard wear-resistant coatings
such as titanium carbonitride, aluminium
oxide and diamond to semiconductor
products. It is a complementary technique
to another widely used tool coating technology – physical vapour deposition (PVD).
For tool inserts, CVD enables thick coatings
(5–25 μm) of aluminium oxide (Al2O3),
titanium carbide (TiC), titanium carbonitride
(TiCN) and titanium nitride (TiN) that offer
extremely high wear resistance and make
it suitable for conditions where abrasive
wear is substantial. By contrast, the thinner
coatings produced by PVD processes
Chemical vapour deposition (CVD)
possess high compressive stresses and are
therefore much more suitable for cutting
applications where toughness requirements
are important.
CVD technology is constantly evolving
and growing in sophistication. One of the
reasons for the growth of CVD is that it
allows engineers to optimize each
coating layer, and it still remains
the only coating process capable
of depositing high-quality
crystalline α-Al2O3 layers.
The most recent coated
cemented carbide inserts have
coatings with up to 10 individual
layers, each having its own
function. In multilayered coated
grades a thin TiN outer layer is
used for wear detection; below this
is often an Al2O3 layer to provide
chemical and wear resistance. This
layer is formed on top of a stack of
tough carbonitride and nitride layers that
give high flank wear resistance. The insert
substrate comprises a base of hard carbides
and a cobalt binder phase, and in a zone near
the coating the substrate has been depleted
on some hard carbide substituents in order to
offer improved edge fracture resistance.
Inserts can have a number of
different CVD coatings, each
having its own function.
CVD GRADES
AVAILABLE
S05F CVD coated carbide for high-speed
finishing in HRSA or long cuts at lower
speeds.
GC3215 CVD coated carbide for demanding
interrupted cutting conditions. Suitable for
all cast irons.
GC3210 Thick-coating CVD coated carbide
for nodular cast iron high-speed turning
applications.
Dressed for success
Resultant wear in a cutting test in ball bearing steel.
A standard coating is compared with a recently improved
coating. The much-thinner white area on the cutting
insert to the right indicates less wear.
Crater wear
GC4235 With a low-stress MTCVD TiCN
coating for steel turning and stainless
steel applications.
GC4215 MTCVD TiCN coated grade with
a thicker low-stress aluminium layer for
maximum protection.
GC2025 CVD coated carbide for
semi-finishing to roughing.
GC3205 Thick-coating CVD coated carbide
for grey cast iron high-speed turning
applications.
STANDARD COATING Crater wear
of a standard TiCN/AI2O3-coating.
One of the first grades from Sandvik
Coromant that used sophisticated CVD technology was the grade GC3020 aimed for cast
iron milling. It was introduced in 1994 and
incorporated a moderate temperature CVD
(MTCVD) – titanium carbonitride (TiCN)
inner layer with a unique, patented aluminium
oxide (Al2O3) on top, which resulted in
excellent wear resistance and coating
adhesion. Today’s state-of-the-art technology
is as an example represented by the GC2025
grade, which is used for stainless steel
cutting.
In reality, CVD relates to a range of processes that involve depositing a solid
material from a gaseous phase. The essence
of a CVD system, in its simplest form,
consists of a heated reactor chamber (where
IMPROVED COATING Crater wear of
a recently improved TiCN/AI2O3-coating.
the inserts to be coated are placed on trays),
a gas delivery system and a vacuum pump
system. The pump is used to allow low
reactor pressure and for removal of excess
and by-product gaseous species.
Precursor gases, such as aluminium
chloride, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
hydrogen, nitrogen and titanium tetrachloride, are introduced at preheated temperatures
into the reaction chamber.
As they pass over the heated surface of the
inserts they react and form the solid coating.
Process parameters such as gas flows,
pressure and reactor temperature are critical.
For deposition of Al2O3 temperatures of
around 1 000 degrees C are used, while for
TiCN the process works best at temperatures
in the 800 to 950 degrees C range. A CVD
process can take up to 24 hours. n
GC4225 CVD coated
carbide with a broad
application area.
GC2015 CVD coated
carbide for finishing
and roughing of
stainless steels and
chemical protection.
Summary
CVD is likely to remain important in the
future. Such has been its impact on
tooling performance that today more than
80 percent of insert grades employ
coatings technology, and CVD is involved
in almost 70 percent of the coated grades
currently offered by Sandvik Coromant. n
text: geoff mortimore photo: samir SOUDAH
virtual
Machining
takes off
DERBYSHIRE, UK. Handily located close to an airport in
England’s industrial and geographic heartland, a specialist
component manufacturer is discovering that the sky’s the limit
in the field of virtual machining.
With passenger numbers
expected to boom, demand
from the aerospace industry
will continue to grow.
Natalie Flemming
Components for the
exhaust part of
aeroplane engines
are machined first in
a virtual environment.
Noise can be a major
issue on the factory
floor.
nnn While planes fly noisily overhead, on the
factory floor at Paul Fabrications in Castle
Donington, Derbyshire, in England’s eastern
Midlands, work continues apace to keep up with
growing demand from the aerospace sector.
Having successfully weathered the worst of the
recession, this high-tech precision manufacturer of
bespoke components, complex fabrications and
high-value assemblies was enjoying a fruitful year
in 2010. However, one particular job – forming and
shaping a component in a Rolls-Royce aeroplane
engine – was proving to be problematic. With
deliveries falling behind and problems on the
factory floor, computer software brought the project
back on track.
Paul Fabrications was already using CAD/CAM
technology, but as it struggled to find a solution for
a job on a titanium engine access plate, project
engineer Dave Rolley turned to Sandvik Coromant
area sales engineer Paul O’Brien for help.
Dave Rolley, project engineer,
Paul Fabrications.
“We asked Sandvik Coromant to come in and
look at it with us, because it was a large volume
job,” says Rolley. “We were falling behind with
deliveries, and it was causing us environmental
problems on the factory floor. We wanted to reduce
time so we could get deliveries out to the customer,
but it was also turning out to be a very noisy
operation.”
There were several challenges, not least the
extensive machining involved in cutting and
maintaining the bottom of a pocket to within 0.1
millimetres of flatness (the thickness at the pocket
base ends up 2mm thick, which is less than half the
original material thickness, and covers 90% of the
component area) as well as trying to reduce cycle
time to free up capacity whilst improving tool life
to provide a more cost-effective solution.
Due to the concerns Paul Fabrications had over
capacity on the machine, Sandvik Coromant could
not carry out any trials onsite without further
As a result of the extended
usage of virtual machining,
the company saved
considerable time and
money.
Paul Fabrications manufactures
high-value assemblies for the
aerospace, nuclear and engineering
industries.
Bespoke solutions can
halve the number of
tools required.
at a glance
affecting deliveries to the customer. To overcome
this problem the drawings and data were taken
to the Sandvik Coromant Aerospace Application
Center to determine what improvements could
be made. Using CG Tech’s Vericut simulation
software to understand the current process, the
problems with the machining strategy immediately
became apparent.
O’Brien says, “Using the experience and knowledge we have in machining strategies and
programming methodologies, we were able to
provide a bespoke solution using the MasterCam
X4 Cam software. Also, by using our CoroMill 300
and CoroMill 490 concepts with PL geometry in
grade GC1030, we were able to halve the number
of tools required from four to two.”
Back at Paul Fabrications, the results were
immediate. “The new plans showed we could
reduce the previous cycle savings by a further
Formed more than 70 years ago, Paul Fabrications is
a high-tech precision manufacturer of bespoke components, complex fabrications and high-value assemblies
in the aerospace, nuclear and engineering industries.
Based near the East Midlands airport, near Derby, in the
UK, the company maintains business activities not only
in the domestic market, but also across Europe, Asia
and the United States.
seven minutes,” says Rolley.
“This may not sound like much,
but with more than 2,500
components over a 12-month
period, it soon mounts up.”
Employees: 109
The time savings, in conjuncTurnover: 12 million euros
tion with a different type of
Facilities: 5-axis milling machines, 4-axis milling
tooling that reduced insert costs,
machines, CNC lathes and 6-axis laser machines
added up to a total savings of
as well as a CAD/CAM system
Customers: Rolls-Royce, FACC, Meggitt & Pattonair
some 30,000 euros over the year.
and more.
Meanwhile, an additional seven
weeks’ capacity was freed up,
along with a reduction in the number
of cutting tools and inserts required.
A further benefit was also apparent on the
workshop floor. Colin Last, the first engineer
to work in the factory with the new tooling,
says: “Working on these components changed
dramatically. One of the noisiest jobs in the
factory turned into one of the quietest.”
There are also quality and reliability benefits.
“When you come to actually machining the job,
you are 99 percent sure that it is meeting the
tolerances required,” says Rolley. “If you don’t
need to develop the job on the machine itself you
don’t waste valuable manufacturing time or components. It becomes expensive if you scrap components trying out different methods on machines, but
with virtual machining you can change strategies,
change the method and see the results instantly on
the screen without any physical waste.”
Flexibility is also a key factor in virtual machining,
says O’Brien. “In the shorter term,” he says, “we can
take a headache away from the customer. In the longer
term, although we mainly use this process in aerospace,
it can be applied to any sector – automotive, nuclear,
general engineering and even for designers.”
For Sandvik Coromant, the more that customers
such as Paul Fabrications use this kind of technology, the more it underlines its commitment not only
to R&D and new product introductions, but also to
the aerospace industry. n
illustrations: Marcelo Cáceres, Barney Boogles, DanLeap
Virtual benefits
The Virtual Machine is purely a software solution
that includes almost every function of a real
machine, and complements it with additional
components. By copying workplace characteristics, it allows the user (in this case Paul
Fabrications) to try out complete programs and
programming changes to maximize productivity,
avoid potential problems during a machining
cycle and ensure that machine hours are dedicated to production rather than running trial
programs on real machines. It is possible to
run the program on the machine or with a CAM
system, but in both cases it simulates
the exact machining.
non-virtual METHOD
Machining in the more traditional way can take more time as
several attempts are sometimes necessary for the desired result.
It can also cause unnecessary waste.
Raw material
Several attempts
with traditional
machining
Lots of expensive
material wasted
Unnecessary waste
is a problem
It can be a
time-consuming
exercise
virtual METHOD
Time-saving
method: five
days to train
an operator
The virtual way can almost guarantee that the job is done correctly
with a precise calculation of the time needed and the cost.
Raw material
The job specifications
are laid out
on a computer
Time, materials
and cost are saved
materials
The materials have to be heat resistant, strong and light, so
much of the work involves titanium, Nimonics, Inconel and
other high-value heat-resistant alloys and difficult-to-machine
materials. This makes machining them a very expensive process,
so waste has to be minimal.
Check out the film clip at www.youtube.com/sandvikcoromant
technology
text: christer richt
Challenge: To improve the
hole-making process in composite
materials in the aerospace industry
using portable machines.
Solution: New cutting tools
that meet the variations and
demands experienced in portable
applications.
A steady hand for
the aero future
A long, sharp
cutting edge
chamfer makes
a clean cut of all
fibres.
The very nature of opera-
tions with handheld tools
leaves them prone to instability and even inconsistency.
The performance of the
equipment being used and the
operator’s experience directly
affect the quality of holes and
productivity.
If hole-making with
handheld tools is hampered by
grab effect from the drill, and a
high thrust force is needed to
For aerospace manufacturers working with composites, there
penetrate the hole, then levels
is plenty of room for improvement when drilling with handheld
tools.
of quality, efficiency and
operator fatigue will be
negatively affected. Operators have to
applications and composite metal-stacked
concentrate more on countering the effects
applications that are performed with hand
of the portable tool and are more likely to
tools. On the composite drill, combinations
make mistakes, with scrap as a result.
such as the left-hand helix and right-hand
Handheld tools are also greatly affected by
drill point promote smooth cutting action
how well the cutting tool functions. Cutting
with minimized or no grab effect. Only a low
action, size and direction of cutting forces,
level of feed force is needed, and the drill
possible cutting data and achievable tool life
makes a smoother, non-destructive exit from
are cutting tool factors that very much
the material.
determine the quality and economic outcome.
For the metal-stacked version there is a
Portable handheld drills need more
choice between a drill with or without a pilot
toughness, due to the inherent instability of
incorporated in it, to reduce differences in
the operation. For this reason, an uncoated
thrust effect between the materials and to
cemented carbide drill and reamer is the best
provide high hole accuracy and finish. The
solution, as the balance of toughness and
hole-size difference between the materials is
wear resistance has to be strength-oriented.
then minimal, and exit burrs are eliminated.
The non-piloted drill has a double margin
edge for stability, which further improves
The CoroDrill 452 standard drill range has
performance and results. n
been designed to optimize composite
A unique split-point
design gives very
close hole
roundness as well
as minimizing
thrust effect.
Uncoated
cemented carbide
drill for the best
toughness and
wear resistance.
More toughness
due to the instability
of the operations.
corodrill 452
summary
The development of cutting-tool geometry
plays a primary role in achieving the right
quality level, tool performance and
productivity. Cemented carbide drills and
reamers with new, patented designs are
the backbone of a new standard range of
cutting tools for handheld tools in
composite hole-making. n
inspiration beyond the metalcutting world
Some believe the giant
spider figure is an
anamorphic diagram of
the constellation Orion.
Jacob Halaska
Spider.
Istockphoto.com/pawelcebo
Monkey.
text: Stefan Sjödin, David Shamy
A plain mystery
Thousands of years ago the Nazca Desert in southern Peru
was turned into a canvas for giant drawings. No one knows
exactly how or why. Metalworking World investigates.
nnn Nazca, in southern Peru, is one of the driest
places in the world. Here the sun shines relentlessly
over sand dunes standing hundreds of metres high.
Ancient remains of whales lie in the sand with spines
13 metres long. The whales remained under a thin layer
of sand when the Pacific Ocean drained away.
Our jeep has a built-in shower we use to find what
little respite from the heat we can. Sometimes we climb
out of the jeep and pick up the odd razor-sharp shark
tooth. Sharks used to attack the whales around us; now
only their decimetre-long teeth remain.
Very little rain has fallen here over the past 10,000
years, but the moment we arrive the heavens open.
The locals look anxiously toward the black clouds. On
the one hand they welcome a bit of cool rain, but the
El Niño phenomenon, which produces wet weather
along the coast of Peru, could also trigger an economic
catastrophe for the people of Nazca. Bad weather could
wipe away the Nazca Lines – ancient artefacts whose
origin is one of the world’s great mysteries. The lines
were created by removing reddish-brown pebbles on
the surface to expose the lighter-coloured earth below,
and scientists speculate that increased rainfall could
wash the lines away. Scientists speculate that heavy
rainfall could dump clay and sand over the lines while
also increasing the chances of mudslides and flooding.
If the lines disappear, the locals’ principal source of
income, tourism, will also disappear.
We decide to get a look at the lines before they are
gone for good. From a tiny plane flying a couple of
hundred metres above the ground, the lines form
pictures below us. “Look at the kolibri [hummingbird],”
screams the pilot as he bows the plane down almost into
a somersault. “Over there you can see a lizard.” We can
also see a spider, a condor, a whale, a flower and a
monkey. Some of the drawings are larger than two
football pitches. The lizard, for example, is more than
180 metres long. But that’s not all. In addition to three
dozen animals and plants, more than 1,300 kilometres
of straight lines and 300 geometric shapes stretch out
across the landscape in what looks like chaos.
The lines were drawn by Indians from the Nazca tribe
between 500 BC and 500 AD, but no one knows exactly
how or why. Nazca artists could have drawn straight
lines with the help of sticks and string, but it is a mystery
how they kept the lines so perfectly straight over
such long distances without any overview. Or perhaps
they didn’t. Some theorists speculate that the Nazca
people flew with the help of air balloons. Evidence of
this can be found in the balloon-like drawings on local
pottery and the large round burn marks ingrained on the
nearby cliffs.
George Steinmetz
There are more than 300
geometric shapes and
some 1,300 kilometres
of straight lines.
inspiration beyond the metalcutting world
Other ancient mysteries
Jeff Overs
The Nazca Lines site is by no means the only hard-toexplain ancient site that has tourists and archeologists
theorizing over its origins. From the UK to the South
Pacific, here are a few examples:
Easter Island
Located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, Easter
Island boasts more than 800 giant statues,
called mo’ai, which were carved between 500 and
700 years ago.
Museums Blaubeuren
Ggantija
Two ancient temples, each more than 5,500 years old,
can be found on the Mediterranean island of Gozo.
According to folklore, the temples were constructed by
a giantess and used as a place of worship. Some
scientists now believe the temples were used by a
fertility cult at the time. Small, spherical stones
discovered around the temples may have been used to
transport the incredibly heavy stones for construction.
The Goseck Circle
The Goseck Circle in
Germany, consisting of
earth, gravel and wooden
palisades, is regarded as
one of the earliest examples
of a solar observatory.
Nuno Silva
Maria de la Iglesia
Stonehenge
Thousands of years old,
Stonehenge is situated in the
English county of Wiltshire.
Claudio Colombo
Yonaguni Monument
About five metres below the surface of the sea
off the coast of Yonaguni in Japan lies a huge
underwater rock formation of various platforms
and walls. A diver discovered the area in 1987,
and debate has raged since as to whether the
formation is a man-made or natural phenomenon.
The Carnac stones
More than 3,000 prehistoric
standing stones in Brittany.
In fact, if one stands on the adjacent mountain during
the summer solstice, it is clear that the morning’s
sunrays precisely follow one of the longest lines. At
the winter solstice the same thing happens along another
line. Many of the lines end in a thin triangle that points
towards wall writings. Every line and triangle is
believed to contain information leading to more information. In different ways, these triangles may have been
used to work out the time of year when water enters the
2,000
The number of years
some of the oldest
lines are thought to
have been in existence.
60
The number of years
that mathematician
Maria Reiche studied
the Nazca Lines.
Bettmann/CORBIS
But the Nazca mystery attracts all types of people from
scientists to mystics and madmen – many of whom are
more than happy to share their opinions over a glass of
beer in one of the local bars. Theories range from the
otherworldly (UFO runways and hallucinogenic visions)
to the practical (works of art and mathematical drawings).
Even though scientists don’t agree on the purpose of
the lines, most agree that they are more than just pretty
pictures. Maria Reiche, a mathematician who studied the
lines for almost 60 years, believed the lines track the
positions of the sun, moon, stars and planets. In her
seminal book on the subject, Mystery on the Desert, she’s
clearly fascinated by the geometrical patterns. “Looking
down on plains, terraces and tablelands there appear in
different places triangles, rectangles and trapezoids
neatly outlined in a lighter colour on the brownish
surface,” she wrote.
Maria Reiche
rivers, when to harvest and when to save resources.
The chaos we saw from the window of the plane is
an optical illusion. The Nazca Lines are apparently
carefully arranged, flowing like rays of the sun into
several centres. All the lines are located near water,
and it seems logical that they provide a map to water
(an important piece of information if one lives in the
desert). It is also possible that the lines provide an
astrological guide. At this point scientists still don’t know.
Anthony F Aveni, a professor of astronomy and
anthropology, spent years studying the lines and
believes they probably had multiple uses. “We can no
longer view the Nazca Lines as the product of a massive
superhuman work effort undertaken as a single-minded
grand project,” he explains in an article in Archaeology
magazine. Rather than finding a grand explanation,
Aveni suggests that the lines should be used to understand the everyday lives of the people who constructed
them. “There is order – a pattern and a system behind the
geoglyphs [lines] – and it tells us about the people who
lived there,” writes Aveni.
On my way back I think about how the lines may
disappear as El Niño gets closer. For 2,000 years the
lines may have shown people the path to survival in
one of the world’s driest places. If Nazca becomes a
wetter place, perhaps the reason they were created will
also disappear. n
Creative thinking
Ingrid Reineck, research and development manager at Sandvik Coromant,
talks with Metalworking World about creative thinking and how ancient sites
such as the Nazca Lines are evidence of the long history of outside-the-box
thinking in human evolution.
1. are there similarities in The creative
approach of those who drew the nazca
lines and your research and development methods? The Nazca Lines must have
been created by someone who thought beyond
the existing cultural framework of
the time. We need to do the same today within
R&D. That’s how completely new things are
invented. However, R&D today must build on
facts and not only on free fantasy. You may not
always be able to explain the facts in deep
detail, but the fundamental, solid base must be
there or else you will probably not be able to
repeat your experiment, and definitely not
bring the process into production, which is a
must for industrial R&D. But you never know;
maybe the Nazca culture knew something that
we do not understand today.
2. What qualities do you think are the
most important in working in R&D?
Curiosity and the patience required to convert
research findings to products. You also need team
spirit to share your knowledge and experiences.
This is valid not only within the R&D group. You
must have the ability to create a network
extending into the markets as well as into the
production organization.
3. Sandvik Coromant invests at least
twice as much in research and development as the industry average every year.
Why? Investment in new technology has been
important for Sandvik since the days of Göran
Fredrik Göransson in the 1860s. This is how the
company not only survives long-term but also how
it grows and prospers as one of the most
successful companies within the engineering
business area.
text: jason thoe
photo: Sash Alexander
Flying high
in Malaysia
Shah Alam, Malaysia. In 2009, UPECA Aerotech was awarded a major
contract for various aerospace components. To fulfil its commitments, the
company needed a strategic partner.
.co
Istockphoto
m/tang9024
Istock
photo
.com/
raclr
o
6
Malaysia may not be traditionally associated with
the aerospace industry. However, UPECA Aerotech Sdn
Bhd (UAT), located in Shah Alam, about 25 kilometres
west of Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, has established
itself as a key supplier to a number of major aerospace
companies from around the world.
The path taken to this point, however, contained
many challenges and hurdles, all of which were very
real to the operations director at UAT, Kavan Jeet Singh.
Tasked with overseeing the complete operations at UAT
since its inception, Kavan is particularly proud of how
UAT has evolved to where it is today under his
leadership.
In 2009, UAT was awarded a significant 10-year
contract for the manufacturing of wing and structural
components by the European division of the world’s
largest supplier of commercial aeroplane assemblies and
components, Spirit Aerosystems, triggering expansion
and the development of a vast range of special process
capabilities.
However, Kavan points out, the stakes are always
high when undertaking new aerospace programmes.
“You’re only as good as your last failure,” he says.
That’s why detailed planning and risk mitigation are
of vital importance.
“From the onset,” Kavan explains, “we realized that,
as an organization looking to gain credibility and traction
within this industry, we had to move away from the tag of
being just a low-cost manufacturer. We needed to build
the organization on a foundation that values innovation.”
He says the excellent infrastructure the country
provides is an ideal foundation to allow UAT to compete
globally in the aerospace manufacturing industry.
“The cost of labour is still comparatively low and the
skill level of the workforce is adequate,” he says.
“However, we must recognize that we will not be able to
leverage our lower labour costs to remain competitive for
long. The industrialized nations have done phenomenal
work in technological advances to counter their high
labour costs, and we have to learn from that. The challenge
for us is to find the optimum balance between investment
in technology and utilization of labour.”
however, bringing improved outcomes wasn’t just
about possessing excellent infrastructure. It was also
about having the right people for the job.
“We have evolved UAT through having the right
people with the right expertise in ensuring that we could
deliver efficiently and effectively,” Kavan says. “Even
after the millions we have invested in machinery, the
employees are still our greatest asset.”
A key result of this shift in mindset was the establish-
Kavan Jeet singh
age: 35
family: Wife, Manveet Kaur Bajaj, and two
children: son Nikhil Singh Khash, 4, and
daughter Natasha Kaur Khash, 1.
Lives: In Bangsar, a suburb of Kuala Lumpur,
about four kilometres southwest of the city
centre.
education: Honours degree in Aeronautical
Engineering from Loughborough University in
the UK.
enjoys: Intelligent movies, good humour,
tasty food and cold beer.
Upeca Aerotech
Raymond Tan, productivity improvement
engineer, Sandvik Coromant, with
Ronnie Yong (left), Yew Seik Wai and
manufacturing manager Allan Tan.
UPECA Aerotech Sdn Bhd, based in Selangor,
Malaysia, is a key player in the Malaysian
aerospace manufacturing industry. As one of
only a few Malaysian companies approved
and certified by Airbus for metal component
manufacturing, UPECA Aerotech produces a
range of aircraft components that include
aerostructures, avionic components and
aircraft engine casings.
UAT currently employs more than
230 highly skilled employees and plans to
grow to more than 300 employees within
2011. Achieving the AS/EN-9100 approval
in 2007 for the Manufacturing of Precision
Engineering & Aircraft Components, UAT
manufactures components for significant
clients, which include leading aircraft
manufacturers Spirit, Honeywell, Goodrich
and Meggitt, amongst others.
Istockp
hoto.c
om/ra
clro
keen to participate when news of the award of
business spread within the industry,” says Yew.
“After extensive review of the various
proposals, we finally decided to award Sandvik
Coromant the opportunity to jointly develop the
engineering and act as our strategic partner in
milling and turning operations.
“Within the working framework, Sandvik
Coromant became an extension of UAT’s
Product Development Centre,” he says.
“Together, we worked towards producing the
critical first articles as well as conceptualizing
and designing the production process that
would follow. We put a lot of faith in their
ability to provide tooling solutions. This was
important to allow the PDC to ultimately
deliver the most efficient machining process
to our production, headed by Allan Tan.
wn
ment of the Product Development Centre
(PDC), led by its manager, Yew Seik Wai,
with a team geared for intelligent engineering.
Yew, in collaboration with Ronnie Yong,
UAT’s supply chain manager, was responsible
for the engineering development and delivery
of the first articles. These functions were key
to ensuring the development of the overall
process for manufacturing readiness.
“In order to successfully execute the
project,” Yong explains, “we were faced with
a key challenge of identifying and acquiring
the right cutting tools that were reliable and
effective to enable the production of such a
large number of unique parts.”
Yew and Yong spoke to various cutting tool
suppliers.
“There were many cutting tool suppliers
Demanding aerospace
components need the
best tooling package.
Ken Bro
Ronnie Yong (left),
Yew Seik Wai and
Kavan Jeet Singh.
“The success we have today is a result of a
combined and focused effort,” Yew emphasizes.
“The collaborative effort between the PDC,
Supply Chain, Production and our partner
Sandvik Coromant does not just stop after
the development phase. Our partnership will
continue into manufacturing readiness,
continuous improvements and hopefully a lot
more cost savings.”
on board, the first
shipment of the parts was delivered according
to specifications within the span of only nine
months. “There were many technical challenges
faced along the way, due to the scale of the
project and tight delivery deadlines,” Yew says.
“Everyone contributed a tremendous effort to
ultimately deliver a high-quality product with
With Sandvik coromant
One of UAT’s cells for
manufacturing aerospace
components.
the most efficient manufacturing process.”
Kavan adds: “In this day and age, a business
must continue to evolve to stay relevant. We
cannot just rely on internal capabilities. That is
why we need strong, capable partners to help
us continually improve and remain competitive.”
Established in 2005, UAT has a bright
potential for growth. Currently serving clients
that include leading aircraft component
manufacturers Spirit, Honeywell, Goodrich and
Meggitt, UAT is anticipating a growth of at least
30 percent year-on-year for the next five years.
Moving forward, UAT is focused on developing
its key customer base and building on its current
work packages.
In addition to conceptualizing and developing the production process alongside UAT,
custom-made tools,” says
Sandvik Coromant was chalPulkit Datta, aerospace
lenged to create a cost-optimized
manager for Sandvik
tooling package to improve
Coromant in Asia Pacific.
UAT’s productivity. The tooling
“All that led to minimal
package was required to cut
bottlenecks during the first
components in various materials
articles as well as regular
such as titanium, stainless steel
production.”
and aluminium. The challenge
Sandvik Coromant serviced
was further compounded by the
UAT through a team consisting
need to rethink current solutions
of a central technical staff
on critical aerospace components.
member, a machine investment
The challenge was met
specialist and a productivity
throughout the process.
Pulkit Datta,
aerospace manager,
improvement engineer.
“All the different features on
Sandvik Coromant
“The success in the project
the components were discussed
can be attributed to the fact that we managed to
in detail, and the most optimized machining
understand UAT’s objectives and got involved
techniques and programming methods
right from the start,” says Pulkit. n
were agreed upon, incorporating even some
technology
text: turkka kulmala
Challenge: CAx and CNC technologies
provide an automated manufacturing
environment but lack an efficient means
for transferring tool-related information.
Solution: The ISO 13399 standard
offers a common information model for
describing cutting tools and efficiently
communicating this information.
Tool library sets
the standard
Product
specifications are received at one end, all
the information, tools and materials flow
seamlessly, and the finished product
emerges at the other end. A naïve utopia?
Perhaps, but new tool library services based
on an international standard are bringing
this ideal a step closer to reality.
The ISO 13399 standard – in reality a family of standards – defines a common
information model for communicating data
on cutting tools between various manufacturing systems.
Information flow from the designer’s
CAD environment to the CAM and CNC
systems on the shop floor is fairly fluent and
well standardized.
For cutting tools, the picture is different.
Information on tools, such as dimensions
and geometries, insert and holder combinations and CAD models, has long been
available digitally but only in proprietary
formats. As most manufacturers are likely
to use several tool brands, it has been
Imagine a perfect factory:
A new ISO standard defines a common
information model for communicating
data on cutting tools.
necessary to use several mutually incompatible software systems.
Furthermore, as direct communication
between these systems and CAM software
has been poor, cutting tool data cannot easily
be transferred to CNC machine tools. Due to
these problems, manufacturers have been
reluctant to make use of even existing tool
library functionalities available in CAM
systems.
All this results in a significant untapped
productivity reserve. According to CAM
system suppliers, automated input of cutting
tool data to CNC systems can increase the
productivity of a machining process by as
much as 50 percent.
Manufacturers are aware of these issues
and are keen to find practical solutions. During
Chicago’s International Manufacturing
Technology Show 2010 (IMTS) in September, a range of manufacturers from both
large and small companies and various
industries expressed interest in Sandvik
Coromant’s tool library services. An
increasing need for digital cutting tool
information exists in the marketplace.
This is precisely where ISO 13399 offers
a solution (see sidebar).
All the standardized tool data recorded by
the supplier will be available to any of the
customer’s CAx, tool management and CNC
systems. Tool crib personnel can receive
assembly instructions for building the tool,
including all the required inserts, holders and
adaptors.
From the crib, the tool assembly goes to
the machine tool, where the operator can
again access the tool data. After finishing
the job, the operator can make any
necessary corrections or amendments in the
data and relay the files back to the tool
room and other systems.
A crucial requirement is the quality of
information. For example, any tool dimension
stated by the supplier must remain unaltered
throughout the process all the way to the
machine tool. An additional benefit of ISO
13399 is the ability to handle tool offset data.
ISO 13399 offers a relatively simple
transfer process for any kind of cutting
tool-related information. However, the real
challenge, as well as the potential for greater
efficiency, is offered in more ambitious
applications such as machining simulation
and process optimization. n
Practical solution
The new standard divides cutting tools and their
components into four main groups:
ISO 13399
The ISO 13399 standard series “Cutting
tool data representation and exchange”
defines a general data model for
representing the main categories of cutting
tool data and the relationships between
them and outlines the principles for
exchanging such data.
A publicly available application
programming interface has been
developed to ensure that all users can
create and/or access information
according to ISO 13399 without detailed
knowledge of the standard.
The standard was developed by a team
of representatives from Ferroday Ltd,
Kennametal Inc, Sandvik Coromant (the
project leader) and the Royal Institute of
Technology of Sweden. n
Tool items. The holders
or tool bodies supporting
the cutting items.
Cutting items. The inserts
or cutting edges that directly
remove material from the
workpiece.
Assembly items. Components
required for assembling the tool,
such as shims or screws.
Adaptive items. For example,
extension or reduction adaptors
that provide the connection
between a tool item and the
machine tool.
Summary
Tool library services based on the
international ISO 13399 standard offer
significant productivity improvements by
efficiently linking up CAx and CNC
systems. The standard enables open data
transfer between proprietary tool
management, CAx and CNC systems. n
text: Henrik ek, geoff mortimore photo: martin adolfsson
super
size me
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US. It looks like a cross between a tank,
a tractor and a crane. When demand for this enormous electric
mining shovel more than doubled in two years, size became an issue
for maker Bucyrus.
nnn In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, the
heroine drinks from a bottle that shrinks her to a tiny
size. You get the same feeling standing in front of the
electric mining shovel unit at US manufacturer Bucyrus’
main shop south of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Let’s put things in perspective. The assembled unit
weighs nearly 1,400 tonnes – as much as five doubledecker Airbus 380 planes. The bucket reaches a height
of 18 metres when it stretches out to scoop rocks.
It’s as tall as a seven-storey building, and its 120-tonne
payload capacity is as big as that of two fully loaded
trailer trucks.
Big is beautiful here. Since its founding in 1880 in
Ohio, Bucyrus has been large-scale by every possible
definition. Almost all the parts for the company’s
different mining machines, including shafts, gears,
sheaves, pulleys and frame components, are produced
at the main shop.
A walk around the facilities in the complex reveals
an array of giant steel parts, not always easy for the
untrained eye to identify. One of the biggest is a swing
rack, a giant gear wheel that sits horizontally under the
shovel’s body and makes the unit turn. “It’s our biggest
part and one of three main parts we had to craft more
efficiently,” says John Matysiak, manufacturing
engineer at Bucyrus.
When it comes to the company’s electric mining
shovel, we are really talking about massive scales. A
John Matysiak,
manufacturing engineer
at Bucyrus.
single part for such a piece of equipment could measure
up to 5.5 metres in diameter.
The electric mining shovel is powered by an electric
motor, one of the few parts that are not made in-house.
It works as well for open-pit gold and copper mining
in the Australian heat as for oil sand operations in the
northern Canadian cold.
But the gigantic scale of the machines can present
a challenge when it comes to mobility.
“Some of these parts weigh around 110,000 kilos,”
Matysiak says. “It means we can’t possibly ship our
whole units to the customer assembled. We do some
sub-assembly right here, but sometimes the mines are
at very remote locations. We have to ship everything in
parts.”
Just creating the three biggest parts included several
steps at different locations around the complex. “We
had to move the parts so many times when machining
them,” Matysiak says. “We had to do turning at one
place and then use a crane to put the part on one of our
internal railway carts to get it to another facility for gear
cutting. Sometimes a part travelled several miles before
[it was] finished.”
This logistical problem was highlighted by a study
that pointed to a future capacity squeeze. In 2005, when
Bucyrus announced the first phase of its multimilliondollar expansion of its South Milwaukee manufacturing
facility, the company believed that demand for electric
at a glance
Founded: 1880 in Bucyrus, Ohio
Ownership: Entered into merger
agreement with Caterpillar in 2010
Line of business: Maker of surface
and underground mining equipment
Main products: Draglines, electric
mining shovels, blast hole drills
Number of employees: 10,000
TURNOVER (2009): 2.65 billion US dollars.
Single parts can be
5.5 metres in diameter
and weigh well over
100,000 kilograms.
technical insight
Big business
With demand ramping up fast, Bucyrus had only one option:
to get a new and efficient machine centre.
The objectives were clear. A study showed that
Bucyrus’ weakest point was in the big turning
facility. The company needed a new machine
centre, but it also wanted:
• A more cost-efficient cutting process
• A machine that would help reduce handling
and transport of large parts
•A machine that would fit in the large
turning facility.
“Not many manufacturers could meet those
demands,” says John Matysiak, manufacturing
engineer at Bucyrus.
Italian machine tool builder Pietro Carnaghi
could. At the same time, Bucyrus faced tooling
options, and Sandvik Coromant was involved from
the start to find the most efficient solution.
“We hadn’t worked with Sandvik Coromant
before, but we knew they were capable when it
came to turning,” Matysiak says.
The order to Pietro
Carnaghi included turn
keys for the three main
parts: the swing rack,
which enables pivoting
for the shovel body; the
hoist drum, which hoists
the cable for the shovel;
and the hoist gear, which
turns the drum.
Lyle Schmaus, sales
The machine was to be
engineer at Sandvik
fitted with Coromant
Coromant.
Capto C8 clamping units
from Sandvik Coromant for all the OD and ID tool
blocks. Sandvik Coromant Italy prepared process
layouts, time studies and tool lists. Bucyrus
received this information from Pietro Carnaghi and
contacted Sandvik Coromant US for input. To deal
with process and tool selection issues, Sandvik
Coromant US worked as a mediator between
Pietro Carnaghi, Sandvik Coromant Italy and
Bucyrus. The Sandvik Coromant US group out
of Pontiac, Michigan, was also involved.
The finalized list of required tools, including
Coromant Capto C8 clamping units, CoroDrill
880 drills, Duobore and CoroBore boring tools
and a variety of milling cutters, was approved by
the customer and by Pietro Carnaghi. When the
machine was shipped, Sandvik Coromant US
provided daily support to Pietro Carnaghi and
Bucyrus through all the required run-off parts.
Numerous changes had to be made to tool type,
insert grade and geometry and processes in “real”
time in order to achieve the aggressive run-off
schedule.
“The people at Pietro Carnaghi had only seen
two-dimensional drawings of the parts. Sometimes
you have to see a part in real life to fully understand how to craft it,” says Lyle Schmaus, sales
engineer at Sandvik Coromant.
“Lyle and Sandvik Coromant were with us from
the start and gave us real-time support in the early
stages,” says Matysiak. “Lyle spent about five
weeks here.”
The Pietro Carnaghi machine was installed in
2009 and became fully operational in mid-2010.
“It’s even on over-capacity,” says programmer
Neil Cramer. “It’s working so well that all the
engineers have started putting everything in here,
not only the three original main parts.” According
to the numbers, Bucyrus has made all the right
choices.
Says Matysiak: “We were aiming for a
25 percent cost reduction. On average we’re at
44 percent, which is very exciting. In transportation we’re down 66 percent and in lead time
19 percent. That equals many, many days.” n
Operator Jason J Reynolds at
Bucyrus prepares a swing
rack for the next step in the
cutting process.
The five-metre table
Pietro Carnaghi
machine can turn,
drill, bore, tap and
mill in one setup.
THE CHALLENGE
IN BRIEF
The challenge:
To meet rising demand for the electric
mining shovels, forecast to increase
significantly, as well as capacity
constraints in three key components.
Rollers on the swing rack
help to rotate the electric
shovel.
The solution:
“Previously we made eight to 10 units a
year. We were told that over a two-year
period that number would go up to 24. ”
John Matysiak, manufacturing engineer at Bucyrus.
mining shovels would increase significantly
in the coming years because of growing
global demand for coal, copper, iron ore, oil
sands and other commodities.
“Previously we made eight to 10 units a
year,” Matysiak says. “We were told that over
a two-year period that number would go up to
24.” The current capacity for electric mining
shovels is just over 30.
Bucyrus also manufactures blasthole drills,
used to drill holes and plant explosives in
harder types of rocks. Occasionally it also
receives an order for a dragline, a huge
crane-like shovel. As orders increased, it
became clear that the existing process wasn’t
fast enough to meet the demand.
The company took a close look at the
capacity constraints on three key components
– the swing rack, hoist drum and hoist drum
gear – all very large and manufactured
in the same time-consuming process that
required shipment to various departments
for completion.
Bucyrus found what it was looking for in
a twin-column, live-tooled five-metre table
200 HP VTC from Italian manufacturer Pietro
Carnaghi, which can turn, drill, bore, tap and
mill in one setup. This instantly reduced the
number of setups on any given part, saving
significant time and money.
Sandvik Coromant was chosen to find
the most efficient tooling solution for the
machine, involving both the Italian and
American Sandvik Coromant organizations
(see sidebar).
Bucyrus also reduced lead time, according
Sandvik Coromant had to find the
most efficient tooling solution for the
machine, which could handle turning,
milling, drilling, boring and tapping
of these components. It did so in a
twin-column, live-tooled five-metre
table 200 HP VTC from Pietro
Carnaghi.
The result:
The new machine reduced the number
of setups on all parts, leading to considerable cost savings and 19 percent
in lead time, equal to several days. n
to Matysiak. Additional savings came through
reduced queue time and transport costs as well
as improved quality of the components.
For Sandvik Coromant, not only is it
the first time it has been involved in a
start-up project with Bucyrus, but it also
marks a success for its “Right from the
Start” campaign on an international level,
involving many different levels of Sandvik
Coromant in two countries. n
technology
text: turkka kulmala
Challenge: What to do if
cemented carbides do not deliver
in HRSA machining?
Solution: Move to ceramic
insert grades, which when
correctly applied offer a powerful
alternative.
Ceramics like it hot
Sialon and whisker ceramics are viable
alternatives for both turning and milling
heat-resistant super alloys (HRSA). One
subgroup is the Inconel alloys, typically used
for high-temperature applications in aircraft
engines and energy production. Another
increasing application is welded-on hard
materials in the oil and gas industry.
Ceramics are strong in hot-hardness and
low reactivity with workpiece materials; their
downside is lower toughness compared with
cemented carbides. This requires a rigid
process with minimal vibrations. Tool
overhangs should be short, entries and exits
smooth and, in milling, full slotting should
be avoided.
Ceramic turning and milling operations
show some major differences. In turning,
the cutting speeds top at around 300 m/min,
while milling cutters may reach as high
as 1000 m/min. Ceramic turning requires
abundant, uninterrupted coolant flow, whereas milling tolerates no coolant at all to avoid
thermal stress.
Round inserts are optimal for both turning
and milling, and low depths of cut are
recommended.
The principal guideline for ceramic milling
is to use relatively low feed rates (0.05–
0.08 mm/tooth) compared with carbides to
achieve very high cutting speeds. The heat
around the cutting zone enhances the cutting
action and efficient removal of the resultant
small, red-hot chips. n
strong ceramic insert
Sandvik Coromant’s Sialon grades CC6060
and CC6065 and the whisker ceramic CC670
complement a strong ceramic insert
programme for both turning and milling.
Read more at www.sandvik.coromant.com.
case study: Inconel component
Tool:
Sandvik Coromant
S-R120R-051C6-12X4
Competitor,
high-feed cutter
Insert:
Sandvik Coromant
RNGN 12 07 00 E
Competitor,
carbide
Cutting speed
vc (m/min):
800
38
Feed per tooth
fz (mm):
0.13
0.71
Table feed
vf (mm/min):
2000
600
Cutting depth
ap (mm):
1.5
0.7
summary
With optimal methods, the extreme speed
capacity of ceramic tools can offer
substantially higher metal removal rates
in demanding HRSA applications. n
Results:
A total of 42 hours of cutting time was saved per year,
and the productivity increased by 469 percent.
The high temperature
helps the removal of
red-hot chips.
outlook
South Pole
record broken
solutions. A British-led expedition team
has completed the first-ever there-and-back vehicle
crossing of Antarctica. Andrew Regan led the
11-person team, which used a variety of space-age
machines including the one-man Bio-Inspired Ice
Vehicle on the 20-day trip from the Union glacier in
late November. On reaching the geographic South
Pole, they turned around and retraced their steps
back to the glacier, travelling the 4,000 kilometres
to arrive back on December 17. n
MOON REGAN TRANSANTARCTIC EXPEDITION
Deutsche Messe
42,287
megawatts was China’s total wind power capacity
in 2010, making it No. 1 in the world in wind power,
ahead of the United States (40,180 MW).
DID YOU
KNOW
Source: Global Wind Energy Council
Machining in composites is demanding and
complex. At the same time it is an area with
huge potential. In a new blog,
www.compositemachining.org, you can
share common experiences and solutions.
Strong focus at EMO
appleuzr
join the composite
discussions!
Getting the show
on the road
exhibition. The 12th
China International Machine
Tool Show (CIMT) in Beijing
provided Sandvik Coromant
with an ideal opportunity to
demonstrate its latest
technology and services.
This year’s Smart Hub was
the largest stand in the
company’s history in China.
The stand was modelled as a
Chinese city, blending
traditional architecture with
modern towers. It featured
gear milling, aerospace
and power generation in the
three main towers, and
included applications such
as hard part machining
and automotive in different
areas. Alongside the display
of products, the stand
focused on services such
as CTLS (Coromant Tool
Library Services) and
training solutions from
the Sandvik Coromant
Academy. n
emo. EMO Hannover is the largest
trade show in the metalcutting industry.
This year Sandvik Coromant will present
the latest solutions for gear milling and
hard part machining. n
trade shows 2011
…the world’s
tallest wind
turbine is the
160-metre-tall
Laasow
turbine in
Brandenburg,
Germany?
illustrations: Hypergon, danleap
May
Sept
Oct
metalloobrabotka
emo
23–27 May
Moscow, Russia
19–24 September
Hannover, Germany
toolex 2011
June
sUBCONTRACTING
TRADE FAIR
Canadian Manufacturing
13–15 September
Tampere, Finland
17–20 October
Toronto, Canada
itm polska
14–17 June
Poznan, Poland
paris air show
20–26 June
Paris, France
Intl technical fair
26 September – 1 October
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
5–7 October
Sosnowiec, Poland
technology show
photo: James King-Holmes
illustrations: Richard Baird , Gypsy Bytes, bubaone
Nobel superhero
Unorthodox. Rarely are Nobel Prize winners also known
for their links with Spider-Man and the levitation of frogs,
but Andre Geim, who won the 2010 prize for physics, is at
times less than conventional in his research focus.
graphene
Andre Geim won the Nobel Prize for
developing graphene, the thinnest
material in the world, and one of the
strongest and hardest. The material has
many potential applications and is
considered an improvement over the
alternative, silicon. There is potential
for its use in composites used in
aeroplanes and cars and also as an
electronics component in computers,
solar panels and tablets.
frogs
Known for his less-than-orthodox
research interests, in 2000 Geim
shared an alternative prize, the
Ig Nobel Prize in Physics, for
magnetically levitating a frog.
gecko tape
Geim helped develop super-strong,
“Gecko” tape. The hope is that one
day it will allow humans to scale
walls like Spider-Man.
Geim’s Gecko tape
could leave Spider-Man
in a sticky situation.
Courtesy Columbia Pictures
the solution
text: GEOFF MORTIMORE illustration: kjell thorsson
POWERFUL
GROOVING
The growing demand for clean and more efficient electric power creates a
need for new gas and steam turbines with components manufactured
in more high-alloyed and difficult-to-machine materials. Making a steam
turbine requires hundreds of different tools, and one of the most common
and challenging operations is grooving. Here are some of the tools used:
Months of
difficult work
Compounding the dual challenges of time
and precision in the manufacturing
process is the sheer size of giant steam
turbine components such as the casing,
discs and shaft. For the shaft alone, it can
take months of difficult work to machine
away 20 tonnes of material for a 70-tonne,
10-metre long, 2-metre diameter final
product.
Grooving represents a large part of the
machining process in steam turbine
manufacturing. Streamlining this operation
can potentially save several weeks in the
overall machining operation. n
Grade CC6060
TAKING THE HEAT
Ceramics are becoming more and more popular as
a tool material when machining components in heatresistant alloys, for example gas turbine discs. Grade
CC6060 is the first choice and can be used at five to
six times higher cutting data compared with the
traditionally used cemented carbide tools.
Want to learn more? Visit www.sandvik.coromant.com/power
Dampening blades
VIBRATION FREE
When performing the final finishing operation on a
steam turbine shaft, casing or discs it is paramount
that no vibrations occur; otherwise months of work
can be wasted. That is why Sandvik Coromant
developed the patented dampening mechanism for
vibration-sensitive grooving operations.
Discs
Shaft
CoroTurn SL and HP
Casing
customized solution
CoroCut
RELIABLE
The new chip breaker geometry – GM, available for
R-size inserts with 15-millimetre widths, gives
perfect chip control. It enables machining of deep
wide slots in a single in-feed without time-consuming
stops and back-outs, which improves productivity
and process security when grooving on the huge
(10-metre-long) turbine shaft.
Many types of grooves in a turbine shaft normally
require special grooving tools. Thanks to the modular
tooling system, CoroTurn SL, you can build a tool
made of standard cutting units. The SL cutting units
can be ordered with HP (high-pressure) coolant
supply technology. Build your own customized
system at www.tool-builder.com.
Print n:o C-5000:550 ENG/01
© AB Sandvik Coromant 2011:2
Teeth like these
need a different
kind of dentist
One who understands the importance of consistent
quality and accuracy in performance.
One who can deliver productivity and cost efficiency,
who works closely together with you to optimize tooling
solutions.
One who puts focus on good after-service with frequent
check ups and support with discussions for development.
One who wears a yellow coat.
If gear milling is your business, call us today.
www.sandvik.coromant.com

Metalworking World 2/2011

Transcription

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